Reconciliation

[Rock of the Fraternity]

Ooooh~ I loved pretty much every part of that.

[Leliel]

Ooooh~ I loved pretty much every part of that.

Thank you! I didn't want Wyan's dream to be completely spoiled, but I do think that truly nasty Inquisitors of the all-purging persuasion in a setting that does not warrant them (ie, any magic is not inherently corrupt and there are nonhumans it's possible to reasonably coexist with) should find their hate becomes self-destructive - at the same time, I wanted the Dorchadas to be a different than Elena Faith-Hold. Their brand of fanaticism is the rationalization kind - whatever they do, the other side obviously did first, so it's fair, and if there's no proof, that just means the other side is that insidious. Combine that with Tepest being a bit more sanguine on the undead than hostile fae (and with Reborn, not actually without reason), and one has a recipe for a cult of fanatics who see necromancy and being regular petty tyrants as being holy, because it was necessary to fight the evil of the impure, and a bunch of other stuff from there.

I also have it that Finn might be a good "successor darklord" if Lorinda was ever defeated...which would still be a step up, because his curse would involve his domain trying to move on from what he represents, likely resulting in Wyan restoring order and becoming more tolerant.

[alhoon]

Just dropping a note here that I wholeheartedly applaud this effort and look forward to contributing once I get my copy of the book and read it.

And when the book comes out?

[Rock of the Fraternity]

Then we keep right on going! ^_^
This thread is all about taking what we want from the 5e book and harmonizing it with the White Wolf material, using our own creativity.

[Leliel]

Then we keep right on going! ^_^
This thread is all about taking what we want from the 5e book and harmonizing it with the White Wolf material, using our own creativity.

Such as what's happening in Borca, which is... nearly unchanged.

Well, actually, there is a major change; Ivan's gone from being a poisoner to a genius engineer, and is even more immature. Also, if he writes a letter, it gets to where he wants it to go. Meaning that he now has something his cousin can never overcome - a communication network.

So, I say that at some point, Ivan finally realized what he wants isn't pleasures, but companionship. For a few short seconds, he nearly realized what his issue was, and felt regret... and promptly ignored it, commissioning a great clockworker to build him a companion. And then murdering the man to ensure it belonged to only him.

This caused his Curse to mutate; quite simply, his age suddenly reverted to his true biological age, and he promptly lost all of his handsomeness and mobility without his dram...but his mind not only remains intact, but amplified. He's been given the differentiation from Ivana he wants, having gone from "the other half of the Dark Twins" to "our finest scientific mind, and the pride of Borca's clockworkers" - except now he's bound permanently in the from of a feeble old man who can only enjoy his fame and having something forever over Ivana as someone Borca does not actually wish to see, since his appearance reminds them all too well of their mortality. The great playboy is utterly alone, and the Dark Powers have gifted him with a mind that fully understands the implications.

[Rock of the Fraternity]

Ivan discovering mechanical genius has another implication.
Before, he was just another brilliant poisoner; he was deadly as all get-out, but he was not unusual for Borca.
In discovering the fact he has the knack for mechanics, he becomes something new, something unusual, and he can potentially revolutionize Borca. That means he now has a good shot at supplanting Ivana, as he has access to very different circles than she frequents -- circles of craftsmanship and industry, which can generate fresh income.

Also, there's the possibility of Ivan setting up communications with Victor and/or Viktra Mordenheim. His letters go where he wants them to, so he could definitely set up a correspondence with the Mordenheims. If he manages to get in what passes for their good graces, even impresses them with his technological knack (or just sends them enough money), he could be receiving some long-distance training and instruction manuals from them.
Imagine Ravenloft's own Joker, with scientific training from the Mordenheims.

Borca's class society may start to buckle and shift soon, if one of the richest nobles starts revolutionizing society with his craftsmanship and the artisan class starts gaining influence under his patronage.

[Leliel]

Semi-Joking: Pre-5e I'Cath is the the setting of a penny dreadful in Paridon made by an HP Lovecraft stand-in who half-read the account of an escapee from the dream city's real world who was absolutely furious upon realizing how bad it is to live in I'Cath. It's always been The Matrix As Made By Wu Zetian.

More seriously: I'Cath-the-domain-in-the-book is the Forbidden City equivalent of a much larger domain that shares a border with Rokushima Taiyoo. Tsien Chiang is known to be the ruler, but she interacts through ambassador golems and magic - she ruthlessly suppresses the truth of what it is through a powerful censorship bureau.

[Rock of the Fraternity]

Semi-joking: Ivan has gone from the Joker to Doctor Octopus...

[Rock of the Fraternity]

Darkon:

Can we agree that we're keeping Azalin as the King of Darkon, and all the upstarts are just that, upstarts trying to unseat him and trying to disrupt his reign?
The Demilords have their work cut out for them, trying to upset the status quo without making enough of a fuss that Azalin just reaches out and squashes them like bugs, though.

Of course, Azalin is a bit distracted.
You see, the Firan Zal'honan touring the Demiplane (always careful to avoid Darkon) is really a part of Azalin Rex. Maybe the lich's grand scheme to gather the Gentleman Caller's children and resurrect his son Irik by implanting him in the womb of S blew up in his skull-face when the demon did ... something that fissioned off part of Azalin. Maybe S sacrificing herself by plunging into the God-Brain caused a catastrophic backlash through the bracers Azalin used to keep a hold on her soul.
The lich king is no weaker for the loss in class levels, magic or Darklord power, but he still feels diminished. Firan took a bunch of memories with him; memories of Azalin's youth on Oerth, before he started using Drain vitality and regularly killed other wizards to boost his own power and knowledge.
In his controlled, pragmatic moments, Azalin believes he can do without memories of his past, 'weak' self. When alone and at his weakest, however, doubt gnaws at the lich. He has regained the knowledge of what happened in his youth, thanks to his private journals, but he does not feel any emotional connection to it. He fears that he has lost some of his drive and focus, and worries this might trip him up.
And there is another concern: 'Firan' is using his name in the casual way humans do. If anyone ever connects "Firan Zal'honan" to Azalin Rex, they might be able to use his true name against him. Azalin wants to either have Firan killed or else returned to him, and has dispatched agents to do both in his weaker moments. For now, Firan has managed to outwit them, or they have fought each other off, but the future remains unwritten.

For his part, Firan is worried about what has happened to him. He has no memories of what happened after he started studying with Quantarius, and the emotional wounds of losing his brother Irik are still raw. This, combined with the patronage of Madam Eva and being forced to 'grow up' in the perilous Demiplane of Dread, has made Firan a more careful person than he originally turned out to be. With no kingdom to rule, no authority to inherit and no need to found a dynasty, the new Firan is devoted to expanding his knowledge both of the larger world and of his self.

[The Lesser Evil]

I wonder if an easy way at least for a few of the reimagined domains is to expand the "shadow cities" options from the Gaz II Falkovnia such that the reimagined versions are Shadow Plane duplicates of the traditional domains (or vice versa, if one wishes.)

[Rock of the Fraternity]

That would definitely be a good option for Darkon!
'Firan' could occasionally appear from them, freaking Azalin the hell out because he can't track him and doesn't understand where he comes from.

[CrackedMack]

Question: considering CoS doesn't line up with the established lore, is there any room in this discussion to rework Ezmerelda d'Avenir to fit in better, or is she just kind of ruled out? Personally, I've done some tweaks to try and fit her into the lore on my end, and I'd be happy to share them. VRGtR somehow manages to retcon and contradict even parts of her backstory. Yeesh.

[Rock of the Fraternity]

By all means, share your ideas!

[The Lesser Evil]

Would be interesting to hear how other people did it. I figured Ezmerelda could be related to Cyrilla Deschamps, a Vistani wise woman that Dr. VR worked with and befriended prior to his reconciliation with Arturi and the other Vistani. Ezmerelda might have been a friend and apprentice doctor to Dr. VR prior to him becoming a monster hunter, or she might have started following Dr. VR after he helped Cyrilla. For example, she might have first assisted Dr. VR in helping find a cure for Cyrilla's lycanthropy. Or she might have helped Dr. VR deal with the dread clay golem Vassa. Vassa is/was a dread clay golem created using the soul of Katya, Cyrilla's niece, by a deranged suitor Katya rejected. Ezmerelda could have been a sister to Katya (and thus niece to Cyrilla) for example.

[CrackedMack]

Would be interesting to hear how other people did it. I figured Ezmerelda could be related to Cyrilla Deschamps, a Vistani wise woman that Dr. VR worked with and befriended prior to his reconciliation with Arturi and the other Vistani. Ezmerelda might have been a friend and apprentice doctor to Dr. VR prior to him becoming a monster hunter, or she might have started following Dr. VR after he helped Cyrilla. For example, she might have first assisted Dr. VR in helping find a cure for Cyrilla's lycanthropy. Or she might have helped Dr. VR deal with the dread clay golem Vassa. Vassa is/was a dread clay golem created using the soul of Katya, Cyrilla's niece, by a deranged suitor Katya rejected. Ezmerelda could have been a sister to Katya (and thus niece to Cyrilla) for example.

I dig it! I hadn't considered Cyrilla as a relation hook in my interpretation, but I think that's a neat angle!

Weirdly, VRGtR did one thing I already had in mind for the backstory I gave Ezmerelda during my CoS campaign: she was a Radanavich by birth, the youngest child and only daughter of Irena Radanavich. From an early age she was frequently disregarded by her mother, who favored (and exploited) her older brothers' natural strength and proclivity for mischief in her criminal endeavors. This neglect, coupled with frequent dismissals of her own talents, created an early rift between Ez and her family. So when everything went down with Radovan's death and the kidnapping and sale of Erasmus, a very young Ezmerelda ran away from the caravan and into the Mists... not long before van Richten found them with his undead retinue.

Having unintentionally avoided the curse, Ez had the good fortune of finding and being taken in by the d'Avenirs, another Vistani family, adopting their surname to further distance herself from her mother's clan. She often thought about the kind doctor and what they had done to his son, feeling a sense of unfounded familial guilt. At age fifteen, she struck out on her own to try and find van Richten again, eventually tracking him to Mordent two years later. Despite his initial suspicions of her, van Richten heard her out, and told her the awful finale of Erasmus' story and his turn to monster hunting (though not about the deaths of the Radanavichs). Ez asked then and there if she could join him as his apprentice, and the doctor agreed, helping hone her skills.

After they had their initial falling out and separation, Ezmerelda ran solo for nearly two decades, wandering the Mists and hunting monsters in her own way. She didn't consider her mentor until she stumbled across a copy of Van Richten's Guide to Vampires, and felt an unusual feeling of nostalgia despite her previous misgivings.

Of course, in my version this leads to her tracking him to Barovia in CoS in a bid to help him out, and possibly uncovering his curse and what really happened to her blood relations in the process.